Das Millionending

It's very sly for all of the 60's look to the movie. The humor is quite gentle, but it grew on me much more than I expected. The cast is first-rate and they appear to be having a wonderful time. Ustinov wanders through the film muttering some quite funny things under his breath, and it's all very inconsequential; I'll buy the movie as soon as it comes out on DVD. The plot is that Ustinov as an embezzler released from prison posing as a computer whiz and embezzling money from an American company with an office in London. Maggie Smith is his secretary for a while, and watching her get fired from many different jobs is part of the fun. Bob Newhart is his usual deadpan self, and Karl Malden has fun as the dense and sleazy executive running the London office. The ending is funny and nicely cynical.

I thought I'd enjoyed Sneakers until I saw Hackers. I thought I'd enjoyed AI until I saw Circuitry Man. I thought I enjoyed Demon Seed until I saw Dungeon Master. I thought I'd enjoyed Johnnie Mnemonic until I saw the Matrix, but this movie set them all back on their heels.

Sir Peter's depiction of the archetypal Hacker is phenomenally well done, and how they managed to predict that Social Engineering skills would be brought to bear in the world of hacking was a phenomenal display of foresight. If Kevin Mitnick's life were ever to be fictionalized more than it has been by the Media and released as a comedy I'd suspect this is what the script would turn out to be like.

Karl Malden and Bob Newhart both provided excellent portrayals of the archetypal 60's executives who still seem so prevalent in today's business world, showing where much of the security concerns of today should be focused.

View this if you're a computer geek, and if you're involved in computer security this movie should be required.

Peter Ustinov received an Academy Award nomination for the script that he co-wrote for this film, and it was a nomination well deserved because if not particularly witty or laugh-out-loud funny, the film still has a number of amusing moments and it is a delight to watch. Ustinov is perfect as a charismatic conman, and Maggie Smith is excellent as a ditsy bimbo in a role very atypical for her repertoire. There are also some interestingly edited sequences and great music too. The scams that Ustinov devises are a bit overly complicated, as is the science behind is the hacking that he carries out, but a full understanding of everything that is going on is not required to enjoy the film. It is interesting to watch and often amusing.

I rented this mainly to see Maggie Smith, and she proved to be enjoyable as always. Interesting to see Dame Maggie oogled as a pretty babe by Ustinov and Newhart. Overall, a charming, frothy little comedy-definitely a product of its time- with tacky 60s pop music & choppy 60s editing- it all seems to work somehow.

"Hot Millions" is a well-written, well-acted tale about an embezzler who steals (whoops! -- too low class a word for an embezzler, according to Peter Ustinov's lead character) a "hot million" from the London branch of a U.S. corporation by creating shell corporations on the continent and using the firm's ostensibly secure computer to transfer funds to them. (Remember, spoiler police, this is a comedy, not a mystery.)

From 1968, this movie's depiction of computers may seem naive to today's more computer-literate populace; but as one who has worked with computers since before this film was released, I would assert that even then, this smacks of having been written by and for computer illiterates, probably on purpose to heighten the droll comedic aspects of this British flick.

If one has little taste for this type of entertainment, the movie may seem to drag in spots. Fortunately, it has a nicely wrapped-up ending; unfortunately, the end credits give no indication of the classical music used therein -- the symphonic piece at the end and the piano-flute duet in the middle -- just the song sung by Lulu which I totally don't remember.